Saint Agnes Eve
by seleenermparis
Summary: Inspired by the poem by John Keats, Hermione prepares for the eve of Saint Agnes and performs the rituals accustomed to it. Warning the fluff in this story is as fluffy as cotton candy.


Saint Agnes Eve

By: S'Eleene Paris T (PG-13) (just to be safe) (Sexual situations)

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Hermione Granger

Synopsis: Inspired by the poem by John Keats, Hermione prepares for the eve of Saint Agnes and performs the rituals accustomed to it. Warning the fluff in this story is as fluffy as cotton candy.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling, the Warner Brothers, etcetera (obviously not me) owns the rights to Harry Potter and company. John Keats owns _The Eve of St. Agnes_. I own the idea to this story. Please keep the disclaimer, my name, and the title attached when archiving. Thanks.

Author's notes: St. Agnes, martyred ca. 303 A.D. at the age of 13, is the patron saint of virgins. Legend has it that if a virgin performs the proper ritual, she will dream of her future husband on the evening before Saint Agnes' Day, which falls on January 21. For further details on this particular legend, please read _The Eve of St. Agnes_ by John Keats. As for the details of the proper rituals involved, I was not sure so I made something up. If this story seems a little predictable, I must congratulate you because if you know anything about writing at all you will know its all the same story lines, just a different way of telling it.

BTW, I am not going to comment about a certain book just released by J.K. Rowling. Especially since mugglenet seems to think we're all delusional since we're Harry/Hermione shippers. Not to mention, they're sorry excuse to "Apologize" to us who do like the pairing. I am personally boycotting the site, myself.

Author's Acknowledgements: Thanks goes to my beta reader Weathertracker who gave me some ideas to get this story off the back burner.

Dedication: To the thousands of girls around the world who feel they do not fit their societies' definition of "beautiful" because they actually fit the definition better than those who are claimed to be whether they believe it or not.

Saint Agnes' Eve

A fire burned in the Gryffindor common room hearth as the blizzard forming outside of the tower blew harsh winds against the windows of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Most of the students of the Gryffindor house had already claimed their beds for the evening as meal inside their stomachs had begun to digest from a great feast a few hours before and most of the common room was completely empty except for Hogwarts' Head boy and girl.

Hermione Granger, dressed in her pajamas, folded herself on one of the armchairs next to the fire deeply engrossed in her homework, as was her companion who claimed a space on the floor rug between the couch and the coffee table. His glasses, reflecting the light from the fire, distracted Hermione for a moment as she looked up at him. She had never seen him too engrossed with his schoolwork before this year, but with the strains of wanting to become an Auror, he diligently cracked down after Professor McGonagall suggested he do so. When Harry slammed his book suddenly shut, it took Hermione out of her trance and back to the present. "I'm done." He declared as he began shoving his books into his bag. "Anymore studying and my brain will be fried."

"Are you going to bed then?" Hermione asked as she shut her book as well.

"Yeah, I think so." Harry smiled at her. "Going to be down here much longer?"

"Not too much longer. I have that meeting with Professor McGonagall this evening. She said it was rather important. I cannot believe she needed to see me this late at night. I don't think it could be any real emergency because she asked me to come a few days ago."

"But why just you? Why not with me? I am head boy, after all."

"I don't know. She just asked for me." Hermione looked at her watch and exclaimed. "I'd better see what she wants." Hermione quickly stood and headed out of the common room via the portrait hole.

Harry watched as his best female friend exited the dormitory to head to their house head's office to discuss the matter of importance. The nagging feeling from his stomach told him his friend was keeping something from him. _"Yeah, not like you're keeping anything from her."_ He thought as he headed up the stairs toward the boys dormitory._ "Like your feelings for her for example."_

"_But I can't tell her."_ His other half fought.

"_And bloody why not? She is your best friend. Its not like she's a complete stranger."_

"_That is exactly why I have to keep these feelings from her." _He thought inwardly as he opened the dormitory door and headed to his bed to slide in the covers._ "She's too close to me as is. Only keeping her away from me will keep her safe from Voldermort and his followers."_

"_Come off it, Harry."_

"_Besides, she doesn't return them so why bother?" _ Harry sighed as he closed his eyes to try to fall asleep.

Hermione felt bad lying to her best friend of seven years, but Professor McGonagall warned her against telling anyone of the contents of the meeting required and from the moment Hermione had stepped in Minerva McGonagall's office she had an idea of what it was about. A Saint Agnes Eve ritual at Hogwarts often went unmentioned because most of the female population was sworn to secrecy of what and why they were doing what they were doing. Most of the male population never even known what was going on except one night of the year four female virgins (one from each of the four houses at Hogwarts) would meet with their head of house and perform the ritual of Saint Agnes. It was an honor to be chosen and to perform the ritual for the ritual ended with the revealing of their future husband. Since Hermione was head girl, it was her duty to inform the virgins to go to their head of house to take part in the ritual. Professor McGonagall led the celebrations as custom for a female deputy headmistress or headmistress to do so and was the only other person who knew all the names of the participants other than the other heads of the houses and the head girl.

Hermione knocked on the door to Professor McGonagall's office and after a moment the woman called for the seventeen year old to step inside. "I assume you know why you are here."

"Yes, Professor."

"Well, then, let us get the celebration underway. Please inform the following to report to their heads of houses. From Ravenclaw: Luna Lovegood, From Hufflepuff: Susan Bones, and from Slytherin: Pansy Parkinson."

"Pansy's a virgin! I thought she would have had gotten it off by now, the big _cow_!" Hermione almost laughed, but when she saw the look Professor McGonagall was giving her, she stopped. "But what about Gryffindor?"

"I thought it would be rather obvious."

"Me?"

"No, Ginny Weasley, of course you! Who else were you thinking? You are the only one in the Gryffindor tower who has a great appreciation for traditions such as this." Professor McGonagall opened the door to her office. "Now get going or we might miss the celebration."

Harry James Potter lay awake in his bed, not as tired as what he claimed a few hours before to his best female friend in the common room. It was not like he lied to her; he had after all had his legitimacy lessons earlier in the evening and it left his body utterly exhausted let alone his mind. Keeping others out of his mind was the easy part, now he was learning to master doing what he had been trying to prevent others from doing to him and now it was something he decided was very useful; especially with the thoughts running a hundred miles an hour and the cause of his state of insomnia. _"Why can't I tell her about this? She is my best friend! This is insane!" _Harry sighed and banged his head against his feather pillow. "_This is not how it's suppose to be! These feelings cannot be normal! Hermione's practically like the sister I never had!"_

He wanted to scream out in rage, but restrained himself as Ron walked into the dormitory with his Quidditch robes and a windswept look. His Quidditch Captain pin glinted in what little light was coming from fire. "I thought you were in bed." Harry whispered to keep the other boys from waking up.

Startled, Ron swerved around to where Harry had sat up in his bed. "Bloody hell, Harry! I thought you were asleep!"

"No, I have a lot on my mind." Harry admitted. "Long practice?"

"Yeah. We have that big match with Slytherin coming up and I do not want a repeat of what happened with Hufflepuff." Ron rolled his eyes and Harry remembered the pathetic display of performance against the badger team. "You and Hermione finished studying then?"

"No, I just got tired."

"But you couldn't sleep."

"Yeah."

For a moment, Ron looked as if he was calculating something in his head, but then he asked. "Where is Hermione? Is she in her dormitory because I didn't see her downstairs."

"She went to see Professor McGonagall." Harry offered as Ron began to strip off his uniform. "Something about a meeting."

"That's odd. Doesn't McGonagall usually want to see the both of you?"

"That is what I thought too, but Hermione said she only wanted to see her." Harry said as Ron put on his pajama pants. "You don't think she's seeing someone in secret do you."

"Come off it, Harry." Ron scoffed. "We would know if Hermione was dating someone. She would have told us. You know, its probably just about Saint Agnes Eve, it is after all tonight you know."

"Really, Saint Agnes Eve? Come off it, Ron. She didn't exactly tell us about Victor Krum now did she?" The longer Harry thought about it, the more he was sure he was right about Hermione and for some reason the more enraged he became. When he could no longer bare the thought of it any longer, Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak, his broomstick, and the Marauder's Map and left a very confused Ron in his wake.

After performing several parts of the ritual of Saint Agnes Eve, Hermione blushed madly as she headed back to her dormitory. As the last part of the ritual, the virgins involved had to sleep in the nude to ensure the spirits of her purity. The very thought of one of her roommates catching her sleeping as such would lead to many uncomfortable questions and secretary was among the most important aspects of this particular tradition. Only four girls every year were chosen for this honor and Hermione smiled as she recalled Professor McGonagall and herself recalled all the names of the other Gryffindor females who had performed this ritual before her. Hermione was only moderately surprised to find out Harry's mother was not only a head girl, but had performed the ritual herself. _"I wonder if she really did see Harry's father."_ Hermione wondered as she wandered back toward the Gryffindor common room.

Once back in her room, she was relieved to find the other girls were asleep. Quickly Hermione stripped down to the bare form, but before she climbed into her bed, she took a good look at herself in the full-length mirror. Just as she suspected, the image in front of her mirrored her form. _"I don't_ _know why Professor McGonagall decided on me to take part of this_ _ritual. Its not like I am going to get married. No wizard here at Hogwarts thinks of me in that way and even if he does, I do not see what would attract him to me. I am not_ _pretty at all. Look at my hair! It's too bushy!"_ Hermione sighed as she crawled into her bed to go to sleep.

Harry Potter wanted to fly past the window of the Gryffindor Girls dormitory to see if Hermione had come back to her room. Thankfully, the blizzard like conditions had already begun to subside, allowing him to fly like he had hoped, but his cheeks still turned red in the coldness of the air and he felt frozen against his broomstick.

As Harry flew past the Gryffindor Dormitory, he saw a weak light come on a few hours later as he landed on the balcony of the seventh year girls' dorm to investigate. His eyes went wide as he caught a glimpse of Hermione though the dorm window. In one swift motion, she slid her vest and shirt off to reveal her milky white skin. Never in a million years would he have ever thought Hermione would sleep in nothing. He continued to watch her as she gazed into the full-length mirror just off her bed. In the moonlight that had chosen this particular moment to peak out from behind the clouds, her well-formed curves could be seen and her paled soft skin tempted Harry to enter the room to touch it. She twirled her curls of her head and Harry could tell she was deep in thought.

Suddenly, she turned to turn down her bed and slid amongst the crimson sheets. Somewhere deep inside of him, as he quickly turned to hide next to the outcropping of the window so she could not see him watching her, Harry knew he had to go and be with her. He quietly opened the French doors and crept inside to her bed. Hermione's hair littered her pillows and her breathing was slower indicating she was indeed a sleep. Harry quickly stripped off his shirt (full knowing he would not be comfortable if he slipped into her bed with it on) and silently slipped into the bed next to her, but not before closing her bed curtains. _"If one of her roommates woke up and saw…"_ He propped his head up with one of his arms as he watched her serenely sleep as he now knew he was safe out of site. The feelings she often stirred inside of him returned to him with much vigor he did not even really notice his hand reaching out to lie on her stomach.

"Harry," She whispered and somewhere in the pit of his stomach, he knew he was caught. He gulped in sheer terror and she smiled contently as she rolled over on to her other side to face away from him.

"_She's still sleeping! Thank Merlin!" _ His heart began to slow from when it had been beating a thousand times a minute a few moments ago. Harry let out the breath he had not realize he had been holding and decided he had to touch her. He leaned closer to her body, deciding her hair would be the one thing he could touch with out waking her up. Her scent was a mixture of vanilla, that he could identify, but what it was mixed with he was not sure. It smelled sort of like apple pie.

Suddenly, Hermione rolled back over on to her back and Harry was now mere inches away from her lips. Yielding to the temptation, Harry leaned down and kissed her gently. Her lips were soft and parted to allow him to taste deep inside her mouth. He obliged her and while he did so, he felt her soft skin with his hands as he was so longing to do a few moments prior. "Harry," Hermione mumbled in her sleep, again, "we can't do this. Professor McGonagall trusts us."

"You're right as usual." Harry decided to play along with her dream and he rolled over off her on to his side. He laid an arm around her waist and kissed her hand. "You think she'd mind too much if I slept here with you."

"Probably." Hermione sighed as she rolled over on to her side to allow him to wrap himself around her. "Too bad, huh?"

Harry chuckled as he set his alarm on his watch to wake him in a few hours time. Any longer and he could risk someone catching him amongst her sheets. Once he set the alarm, he laid his head on the pillow next to hers and fell asleep.

The sun began to rise over the horizon and several birds began their calls, not waking the students of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hermione Granger, the Head Girl, rubbed her sleep filled eyes while she tried to figure out what had woken her from her sleep. She caught a glimpse of Harry putting on his pajama top and grabbed his invisibility cloak, his broom, and the Marauder's map that had fallen on the floor. He kicked off and flew out the window, clutching his broomstick close.

Hermione grinned knowingly. Harry had thought she had been a sleep when he had entered and in truth, she had only begun falling asleep. She had said those things to him full knowing he did not know she was awake and feeling the same way he had both physically and emotionally.

The Head Girl covered her mouth and thought back on what had just happened in her bed. She had just spent the night sharing the bed with her best male friend and the most eligible bachelor at Hogwarts. Hermione tried to suppress a giggle. Not only had she dreamed of her future husband, she unconsciously called him to be with her. Hermione grabbed her bathrobe and tied it around her waist. She went over to the bay window and opened it to step out on to the balcony. She watched as the tail of Harry's broom flew into the window of the seventh year boys' dormitory window.

She knew she had to tell Harry about last night as much as she did not want to. He could deny the whole thing, but knowing Harry, he probably would not. Harry was not like most wizards she had met. Hermione sighed, trying to figure out when exactly to tell Harry what she knew. "_Maybe after the D.A. meeting tonight." _Hermione thought as she turned around to head back into the room to dress for the day. As it was a school day, her school robes were mandatory for the proper attire for the day.

Once she climbed down the stairs to the common room, she heard Ron's voice. He did not seem too happy with whom ever he was yelling at. Hermione stopped walking down the stairs to listen in to whom he was yelling at. "Bloody hell, Harry. You come in at an obscene bedtime then you leave to go somewhere and do not tell me where you went when you get mad at me for saying some things about Hermione. I thought we were best mates. I thought we were friends."

"We are friends." Harry corrected and Hermione risked a glance around the corner of the spiraling stairwell. "I just needed to get some fresh air that's all."

"Yeah, long enough to come back inside the castle early in the morning with a guilty look on your face. If you had been outside all night last night you would probably be to sick to stand up straight because of the storm and you would have caught yourself a cold. From the looks of it, your cheeks weren't pink from the cold when you came in. "

"The cold doesn't cause sickness, Ron, viruses do and its called a warming charm." Harry rolled his eyes as his gaze fell back on to his textbook and parchment. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to finish this report for Professor McGonagall."

Then realization hit Ron. "You were with her then?" Harry sighed, but continued to look down at his work. His silence was all it took for Ron to assume the truth. "Wow, Harry. So did you guys…you know…"

Harry chortled. "No, we didn't do anything."

"You were in Hermione's bed for like most of the evening. How can you not tell me you two didn't do anything?"

"Very easily because we didn't do anything." Harry sighed and Hermione thought best to interrupt them at this moment in time.

"Who didn't do anything?" Hermione asked innocently as she walked into the room carrying her books. Her tidy attire and combed look did not give any evidence of any time spent in Harry's arms.

Harry gave Ron a distinct look to tell him not to say anything to her about what they were actually talking about. "Ron seems to think I fancy a witch he saw me talking with last night after dinner."

"Really, who?"

"Um…" Harry searched for a name amongst the many familiar to him and blurted the first one that came to mind, "Luna Lovegood."

"Well."

"Well, what?"

"Well, do you like her? I am quite sure she likes someone else," with out thinking, Hermione's glanced at Ron for a moment as if to silently point out who Luna actually liked, "but I think she wouldn't mind if the great Harry Potter fancied her." Hermione smiled at him and Harry was unable to read the look she was giving him. The look she gave him she had not used before and for some reason it was toxic to his senses.

"Can we just go to breakfast already?" Ron asked, irritated his stomach was empty. "I'm starving!"

Harry continued keeping Hermione's gaze, trying to figure out what to say next to her. When nothing came, he coolly agreed with his best male friend. "I am famished too. Let's go." Harry led the way out of the Gryffindor common room and down to the Great Hall.

Once in the Great Hall, the room was fluttering with noise of students who had the night before were hastened to the large room to wait for an announcement to be made the next day by the Headmaster. The professors, not usually around for breakfast all at the same time (most of the professors took this moment to prepare for their classes), chose this moment to appear behind the teacher's table in anticipation of the announcement their headmaster was going to make.

When the elderly man entered the room, the room went silent. He went to the largest seat at the head table, but instead of sitting, he stood to make his announcement. Harry, Ron, and Hermione's attention went straight to their headmaster and head of their student section of the Order of the Phoenix. "I will make this short because due to certain information I was hoping not to be true has come to past and members of the student population's lives could be endangered." Gasps of horror filled the room Due to the on going attacks of the Death Eaters, which for those of you are too young to remember will take note these wizards and witches are those of Lord Voldermort's inner circle (several students shrieked and quivered in fear at the mention of the Dark Lord's name.), I am afraid our students of muggleborn heritage are in greater danger than ever. Unfortunately, since most of the teachers are thin compared to the student population, I am formally requesting the members of "Dumbledore's Army" or the D.A. as they liked to be called to assist in the matter of protecting the students as they see fit. Whether be assisting the professors in upping the patrols in the corridors, or what ever the need is. I will be discussing the matter in whole with your leaders; however, I feel it is a great need to allow the students to know who exactly is in this group, so when I call your names please stand up." The Headmaster took a moment to withdrawal the list of students who were among those involved in the group.

Hermione's eyes went wide and she stood up to yell at the Headmaster. "Professor! Don't! There are several jinxes on the paper…"

The headmaster smiled and the student population gasped at the revelation of one of the members being one of those whose life was endangered. "It's alright, Miss Granger. I had Professor Flitwick remove any spells that were placed upon it that may hinder its reading to reveal its members. He said he was rather impressed with your hexes and jinxes," Hermione blushed at the complement, "and said he found the combination used would have been quite humorous for those not under the curses at the moment. He told me to reward 20 points to Gryffindor for your charms work."

The Head girl sat back down as applause rang from the Gryffindor table and the headmaster began to read the list. "Other than Miss Granger, our Head boy is also a member of the group and in fact the voted leader, or so I am told." Harry stood up and then turned to Hermione to gesture for her to stand back up. " Mister and Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood, Mister Longbottom…" and the list continued until every member of the D.A. was read. "These students, which now are standing, will continue their efforts in the defense against the dark arts. For now, allow us to join our meal for afterward, after the D.A. has had a chance to eat, I must adjourn with them and watch their training excursions of which will be held tonight."

After the meeting the training, the D.A. was ready to adjourn to their common rooms for the night. The headmaster had not said a word while Harry nervously trained his fellow students in advanced forms of defense against the dark arts. It was only once everyone left the Room of requirement, that Hermione said something to Harry. It was at the moment Harry decided to turn and leave the room she said. "Harry, about last night."

Harry stopped dead in his tracks to turn to face her. "What do you mean "About last night." ?"

"Oh, Harry quit playing innocent. You know very well what happened last night in my bedroom."

"Oh, that." Harry nervously ran his hand through his thick, black, messy hair. "I didn't realize you were aware it was me."

"Harry," Hermione sighed, "only you smell like that."

"So you knew it was me by the way I smelled?"

Hermione chucked. "Girls have a more heightened sense of smell then boys do. You always smell like that after you have been out flying. I am assuming that is how you got into the girls dormitory since you can't come up the stairs to the girls dormitory."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah."

Hermione looked at her feet and said. "I didn't realize you really felt that way for me. I always thought you thought of me as a sister of sorts."

"I did, but somehow, that thinking changed." Harry smiled at her and took his finger and placed it under her chin. "I don't know how, Mione, but it did."

"So where do we go from here?" Hermione asked. "I don't think we really can go back to being just friends, again, can we?"

Harry smiled as he leaned in to kiss her. "Here." He breathed against her lips before he devoured them with his own.

End.


End file.
